'This Week' Transcript: Kaine and Steele

May 23, 2010

Page 9 of 16

BRAZILE: This was a closed primary. And there's an internal
struggle going on in the Republican Party for the heart and soul of the
Republican Party, and I hope George can address just what side will
eventually come out on top. But Rand Paul is able to energize the
Republican Party right now because there's a vacuum. There's a vacuum
of leadership. And the Tea Party has filled that gap.

The question is, in the fall, when independents are able to get to
the table and vote, will they support someone whose views are considered
out -- outside the mainstream?

ROBERTS: That is the question.

DONALDSON: Are you comfortable?

WILL: The good news about the whole Rand Paul dispute is this. We
really do close some questions in this country. Some debates come to an
end. A hundred and fifteen years ago, Democrats were all up in arms
about free coinage of silver. We sort of settled that question and
moved on.

ROBERTS: Or on prohibition. We've sort of settled that one.

WILL: And yet no one in America -- no one in America wants to
reopen the argument that Rand Paul has reopened.

DONALDSON: What about doing away with the Federal Reserve Board?

TAPPER: All right.

DONALDSON: And replacing it with nothing?

BRAZILE: Or abolishing the Education Department or the income tax?

ROBERTS: Or the FDA?

TAPPER: Well, our discussion...

(CROSSTALK)

WILL: I'm for most of those.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: Our discussion here on politics will continue after the
break and during the break, probably. Plus, Mexico's president enters
the immigration fray, and the politics of the BP oil spill. And later,
of course, the Sunday funnies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FALLON: In a new interview on ABC's "Nightline," Jesse James said
he's probably the most hated man in the world. Yes. Then the CEO of BP
was like, "Dude, don't flatter yourself."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: You've been a longtime advocate for abstinence education.
And in 2006, you had your staff conduct a report entitled "Abstinence
and its Critics," which discredits many claims purveyed by those who
oppose abstinence education. What did you think of this hearing?

SOUDER: Well, I personally feel I should have probably abstained
from the hearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Former Congressman Souder of Indiana, who resigned this
week, and that -- he was being interviewed by the staff member with
whom, allegedly, he had the affair.

DONALDSON: You're not -- you're not being fair, because he doesn't
mean that he recused himself because he was having an affair with her.
He went on to say that he could recuse himself for other reasons.
That's why I say I want fairness to be...

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: I appreciate that, Sam, always, always with the fairness.
Let's talk about the Pennsylvania Senate race and Congressman Joe
Sestak's defeat of Arlen Specter. Here is a little clip from an ad that
Sestak ran against Specter that is widely considered to be one of the
most effective ads of this election cycle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPECTER: My change in party will enable me to be re-elected.

(UNKNOWN): For 45 years, Arlen Specter has been a Republican
politician.